Bonus Experience

Hello Bonus Babies,

Today Monica invites her friend, Jacqueline Bryk, to join her and discuss something she considers a blank spot in her traditional game literacy: LARP. We discuss what makes a LARP, and general LARP design principles as Jax gives a detailed 101 crash course. We also kick around designing our own together, for a bit. Also discussed in the extended cut (https://www.patreon.com/posts/80223748):

- Jax at MAGFest and Monica's day job

- the implications of torture in games and the meddlesome Victorians

- headcanons for the Scarlet Empress and the Ebon Dragon

*taps mic*

Is this thing on? Hello?

We’re back, blowing the dust off this old account since Twitter has become (more) of a trash fire. We’ll be putting all our episodes here, as we work on getting them onto YouTube.

In the meantime, enjoy the first episode of our current season.

Welcome to Season Six! Rai is retiring from permanent co-host duty so you're all stuck with me (Monica) and a rotating door of our friends. Fear not, Rai will still join us from time to time. And don't worry - we remain two queer people speaking with authority about games, and we absolutely will still swear (die mad about it). In today's episode D and Monica sit down to really get into the ins and outs of designing good resource management games. We talk about what you need to consider as a designer and break down how you can avoid common pitfalls. We also cite a handful of excellent games you can try that use their resources extremely well.

 In the Extended Cut:

Starting the work day, weird dreams, and a good sandwich

Behind the scenes of Scion 2e

The mysteries of PEMDAS

Welcome to our first episode as members of the Misdirected Mark Network! Right? This is our first— did they flip the— MARGARET? MARGARET, IS IT LIVE YET?

Anyway, we're returning to our discussion of NPCs, namely how to deal with NPC emergencies (such as when your PCs decide No-Stats McGee is their new best friend) and dealing with canon, named NPCs.

As always, you can find more Bonus Experience at our blog (bxpcast.com) and our Twitter (@bonusexpcast).

Monica got to go to Metatopia, and hang out with Danielle Lauzon! They talk about fixing what's broken in game design, the importance of playtesting, and the foundation of LARP design.

Rai's recovering from bronchitis and will be back to co-hosting duties soon! As always, you can find more Bonus Experience at our blog (bxpcast.com) and our Twitter (@bonusexpcast).

NPCs—never just sentient quest boards. Today we're talking about how best to use your NPCs, how to make them believable and interesting, and how to give them all different voices even if you're not a professional voice actor running a critically-acclaimed Actual Play. We're also talking about how to pronounce Chejop Kejak, how to avoid doing accents, and paying clumsy homage to Sweet Brown.

As always, you can find more Bonus Experience at our blog (bxpcast.com) and our Twitter (@bonusexpcast).

It's time for Mini Episode Time! Today, Monica and Rai shoot the breeze about their favorite character sheets, and share the nitty-gritty on how, uh, nitty-gritty their sheets can get.

Look forward to a full episode on October 29th! And as always, you can find more Bonus Experience at our blog (bxpcast.com) and our Twitter (@bonusexpcast).

We've got a special guest today: Liam Ginty, of Sandy Pug Games! We talk at length about his new game, Americana, but especially: inclusivity in notoriously exclusive settings, getting everyone at the table on board with a tragic backstory in the form of Your Dead Friend, and (most importantly) gay orc greasers in the fantasy 50s. 

Back Americana on Kickstarter (http://kck.st/2NVCG8y)! And as always, you can find more Bonus Experience at our blog (bxpcast.com) and our Twitter (@bonusexpcast).

Back by popular demand, we crack wise about games from our deep, dark past. Of note: why to avoid teenage dudes in trenchcoats, why not to run Exalted when completely sleep deprived, and how important is it REALLY to learn the actual rules to Changeling: the Dreaming?

Still hoping La Croix will give us that calorie-free flavor-kissed sponsorship we crave.

As always, you can find more Bonus Experience at our blog (bxpcast.com) and our Twitter (@bonusexpcast).

Wait, you actually emailed us? Like, we asked you to do it, sure, but you... really and truly sent us email??

Today, Monica and Rai address questions and dispense advice as suggested by YOU, the listeners! Monica also gives a breakdown of her experience of GenCon. Please keep in mind: Rai is sick, and both podcasters had one hell of a ADD day, so, uh. We talk about punching dynamite.

As always, you can find more Bonus Experience at our blog (bxpcast.com) and our Twitter (@bonusexpcast).

Skills are an inevitable part of any game experience, right? You should include a skill for every possible player-character action, right? The answer is "absolutely not, you reprobate." With this spirit, let's talk about how skill lists should represent the thesis of your game. 

For your consideration: Animal Ken, Use Rope, Brawl and/or Martial Arts, and a hearty bread intermission.

As always, you can find more Bonus Experience at our blog (bonusexpcast.wordpress.com) and our Twitter (@bonusexpcast).

Our dear Margaret had some unexpected family plagues, so today we are bringing you one of our mini-episodes: Monica extolls the virtues of popcorn, and Rai complains about grease and chocolate all over her character sheets. Also mentioned: protean La Croix ooze, how to help your neighbors git gud, and some very polarizing Swedish Fish opinions.

Look forward to a full episode NEXT MONDAY, August 13th! And score more Bonus Experience at our blog (bonusexpcast.wordpress.com) and Twitter (@bonusexpcast).

Welcome back to Bonus Experience: the Tumblr! We’ve been broadcasting for a few months but only now remembered that Tumblr is a thing that exists, and we can cross-post audio here.

We are a podcast with a deeper look at the play experience and the finer points of running and writing games. We are two queer women (Monica and Rai) who use words like “diegesis” and “shitwizard.” And we are queueing up our episodes on THIS blog for everyone on our beloved blue hellsite to enjoy.

What do you plan for? How detailed should your notes be? How do you stay committed? Long Campaigns: How Do? Lucky for us, Monica has quite a lot of experience running the serial epics, and she has some tips and advice for GMs who want to up their campaign game. Also discussed: Pretenders to the Pepper throne, fart-based Evocations, and a dog that sorta sounds like Liam Neeson. Kind of.

Welcome to Bonus Experience: the Tumblr! We’ve been broadcasting for a few months but only now remembered that Tumblr is a thing that exists, and we can cross-post audio here.

We are a podcast with a deeper look at the play experience and the finer points of running and writing games. We are two queer women (Monica and Rai) who use words like “diegesis” and “shitwizard.” And we are queueing up our episodes on THIS blog for everyone on our beloved blue hellsite to enjoy.

Welcome back to Bonus Experience: the Tumblr! We’ve been broadcasting for a few months but only now remembered that Tumblr is a thing that exists, and we can cross-post audio here.

We are a podcast with a deeper look at the play experience and the finer points of running and writing games. We are two queer women (Monica and Rai) who use words like “diegesis” and “shitwizard.” And we are queueing up our episodes on THIS blog for everyone on our beloved blue hellsite to enjoy.

Some stuff in your game is more real than other stuff. What does that even mean? Why talk about it? If we don't want to get mired in what exactly "sorcery points" are to our bombshell tiefling sorcerers, then we (finally) have to talk about diegesis.

Welcome back to Bonus Experience: the Tumblr! We’ve been broadcasting for a few months but only now remembered that Tumblr is a thing that exists, and we can cross-post audio here.

We are a podcast with a deeper look at the play experience and the finer points of running and writing games. We are two queer women (Monica and Rai) who use words like “diegesis” and “shitwizard.” And we are queueing up our episodes on THIS blog for everyone on our beloved blue hellsite to enjoy.

We've met them. Heard the legends. Sometimes, we've BECOME them. How do you identify disruptive players—garbage people, if you will—and how do you deal with them without losing your game to discomfort, bad vibes, or the dreaded Missing Stair? Monica and Rai have a few ideas.

Welcome back to Bonus Experience: the Tumblr! We’ve been broadcasting for a few months but only now remembered that Tumblr is a thing that exists, and we can cross-post audio here.

We are a podcast with a deeper look at the play experience and the finer points of running and writing games. We are two queer women (Monica and Rai) who use words like “diegesis” and “shitwizard.” And we are queueing up our episodes on THIS blog for everyone on our beloved blue hellsite to enjoy.

Welcome back to Bonus Experience: the Tumblr! We’ve been broadcasting for a few months but only now remembered that Tumblr is a thing that exists, and we can cross-post audio here.

We are a podcast with a deeper look at the play experience and the finer points of running and writing games. We are two queer women (Monica and Rai) who use words like “diegesis” and “shitwizard.” And we are queueing up our episodes on THIS blog for everyone on our beloved blue hellsite to enjoy.